Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The Giant Engagement Ring Ben Gave J. Lo In 2002

If he were on LinkedIn (and TBH he should be on LinkedIn), Ben Affleck’s headline would read: “Actor, Director, OG Pink Diamond Influencer.” And now that he and Jennifer Lopez are back together after decades apart, Affleck’s legendary taste in bling is making headlines once again.

When the Good Will Hunting star originally proposed to Grammy-winner Lopez with a gargantuan pink diamond ring in 2002, the entire world took notice. Years later, during Lopez’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2010, Norton said “the whole ‘Bennifer’ thing” was responsible for a media frenzy akin to “the moon landing.” And Lopez agreed. "We were on the cover of every magazine, every week,” she said on the show. “It was a lot for both of us to be under that type of siege for two years straight.”

Obviously, gorgeous ring aside, the initial engagement didn’t work out. The couple split up and married other A-listers (hi Jen Garner, call me), at least in part because the public intrigue surrounding their relationship was too intense. At the time, tabloids were just beginning to get their sea legs; celebrities who could once fly at least somewhat under-the-radar were now being hounded by paparazzi trying to capitalize on every last scrap of news — from new haircuts and plastic surgeries to, of course, engagements.

Enter Bennifer. With a 6.10-carat pink diamond in a radiant cut, Affleck asked then-girlfriend Lopez for her hand in marriage — and simultaneously ignited a worldwide obsession with colored diamonds fueled by unprecedented media coverage.

As Town & Country originally reported in 2019, before the fervor over Lopez’s giant pink rock, “white diamonds had long dominated the market and the public’s imagination and desires.” The reason? White diamonds are more plentiful. Turns out, colorful diamonds — especially gems that are pink, blue, red, orange, or green — are exceptionally rare. And, according to Town & Country, Lopez’s ring was “particularly rarified.”

"It is hard to overstate just how special a fine quality, natural fancy color diamond really is," Greg Kwiat, CEO of Kwiat Diamonds and Fred Leighton, told Town & Country. "For some context, there are more Picasso paintings in the world than there are truly exceptional natural pink and blue diamonds over one carat in size.”

One source told Town & Country that Lopez’s six-carat pink diamond was “more valuable than a flawless perfect color 20-carat diamond at the time — and still would be.” And while this particular engagement ring was one of the first pink diamonds to make international headlines, colored diamonds have since rocketed into the mainstream, raking in millions of dollars at auctions and becoming what Town & Country described as some of “the most coveted stones in the world.” One example: After it had been exhibited at the London Natural History Museum, a yellow Cora Sun Drop diamond sold for $12.3 million at Sotheby’s, Geneva, in 2011, according to Your Diamond Guru founder Richard Jenkins.

Even decades later, it’s obvious that the ring made a lasting impression on Lopez. During a quarantine-friendly at-home video chat with Lopez, Dua Lipa, and Charli XCX for Apple Music on April 20, 2020, the three performers wound up on the subject of the storied engagement ring. Lopez gushed that she “loved getting it,” per Billboard.

Of course, Affleck’s pink diamond offering didn’t come cheap. The Hollywood star reportedly shelled out $2.5 million to pop the question back in 2002. (With a price like that, the only thing “On The Floor” is my jaw.)

And sure, everyone knows Lopez’s love don’t cost a thing — but if it did, a rare, sparkling gem makes a decent starting bid.